McCain calls on Cruz to apologize to Bob Dole

Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona) called on Texas GOP Sen. Ted Cruz to apologize Friday for a joke Cruz made about retired senator Bob Dole of Kansas at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference on Thursday.

“All of us remember President Dole, and President McCain and President Romney,” Cruz said. “Now, look, those are good men, they’re decent men, but when you don’t stand and draw a clear distinction, when you don’t stand for principle, Democrats celebrate.”

Cruz’s speech encouraged CPAC attendees to “stand with principle.” Dole, McCain, and Romney, all of whom had unsuccessful presidential bids, were the butt of Cruz’s joke that was intended to exemplify Republicans who did not draw a clear distinction between them and their Democratic opposition.

In an interview Friday morning with Andrea Mitchell of MSNBC, McCain, a close friend of the 90-year-old Dole, criticized Cruz, saying that any joke about an injured veteran not having principle was in poor taste and that he needs to issue an apology.

“…When he throws Bob Dole in there, I wonder if he thinks that Bob Dole stood for principle on that hilltop in Italy when he was so gravely wounded and left part of his body there fighting for our country,” McCain said. “Bob Dole is such a man of honor and integrity and principle. I hope that Ted Cruz will apologize to Bob Dole because that’s — that has crossed a line that to me that leaves the realm of the politics and discourse that we should have in America.”

Dole was badly injured while serving in the United States Army during World War II, and as a result, lost most use of his right arm. In his political career, he lost two presidential primary campaigns, first to Ronald Reagan and later to George H.W. Bush.

McCain, who faced torture as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, said that he could take the criticism from Cruz, but thought that targeting Dole in his old age was crossing the line.

“If you want to — you know, say things that are critical of me and Mitt Romney, that’s fine,” McCain said. “My beloved Bob Dole, as you know, is not in the best of health and he doesn’t need that in the twilight of his years.”

Catherine Frazier, a spokesman for Ted Cruz, called McCain’s criticism a “distraction” Friday, defending Cruz’s respect for both Dole’s and McCain’s military service.

“As he noted in his speech, the senator greatly respects these men, particularly the heroic military service of Sens. Dole and McCain,” she said. “Suggesting anything otherwise is just an unnecessary distraction. He will not hesitate to talk about substantive matters of conservative principle that are important to bringing Republicans to victory – even if others may disagree.”